Jamal Crawford played like it was 2010. J.J. Hickson played like he is worthy of a long-term contract.

And the Trail Blazers kept alive their far-fetched playoff hopes Wednesday night with an entertaining, fast-paced 118-110 defeat over the lowly Golden State Warriors.

But lurking behind the hope the victory provided for Rip City diehards clinging to long-shot postseason dreams was a more sobering dose of reality. Franchise cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge might not play again in what's left of this lost season.

But first, the good news.

In a highlight-filled, offensive-minded thrill ride, the Blazers (28-31) played loose and fun Wednesday night. Never mind that the Warriors (22-35) are an injury-depleted team featuring an NBA-high five rookies on their roster, including two second-round selections in the starting lineup. The Blazers put on a show.

And Crawford was at the forefront. Mixing his patented pull-up jumpers with breathtaking crossover moves, the Blazers' sixth man scored a season-high 34 points, making 10 of 18 field goals and 13 of 13 free throw attempts. Crawford had been mired in a slump for the better part of the last month and was shooting 28.6 percent from the field over his previous four games. But he broke out in a big way, offering a glimpse of the player who won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010.

Meanwhile, Hickson -- starting for the injured Aldridge -- continued his strong late-season audition for an offseason contract. He seemed to be all over the arena floor, blocking Golden State layup attempts, finishing alley-oop lobs and generally wreaking havoc en route to 23 points and 13 rebounds. In 12 games with the Blazers, Hickson, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, is averaging 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.

"He had a great stat line," Blazers interim coach Kaleb Canales said. "But beyond that, he just had a lot of game-winning plays tonight."

And he had a lot of help. Joel Przybilla recorded a season-high 14 rebounds. Nicolas Batum gutted out 14 points and five rebounds, while playing on a left leg he described as 70 percent healthy. Raymond Felton recorded a double-double (16 points, 10 assists) and Wesley Matthews added 18 points, including seven crucial points in the fourth quarter after the Blazers watched a 15-point lead evaporate to two.

"I thought our resolve once again got tested tonight," Canales said. "And (I'm) very excited about the way we responded."

But no one affiliated with the Blazers was excited about Wednesday's most important news as the team was forced to come to grips with two unpleasant realities: Aldridge might not only have to sit out the final two weeks of the season, he might also need surgery on his balky right hip.

Aldridge visited Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colo., on Tuesday in search of a third medical opinion, and the outcome was not good. Blazers interim general manager Chad Buchanan said a magnetic resonance imaging test revealed an "abnormality" in Aldridge's hip, and he did not play against the Warriors. Officially, the team has labeled Aldridge's status as day-to-day, but it seems more and more possible he played his last game of the season Monday night during the Blazers' loss to the Houston Rockets.

Buchanan said Aldridge will undergo further medical "consultation" and all parties involved will have "further conversation" before the team decides how to proceed. But when asked if surgery was being considered, Buchanan admitted it has been discussed.

"We're not going to close the door on anything at this point," Buchanan said.

The Blazers' minuscule playoff hopes decrease with each passing day -- they are 4 1/2 games behind eighth-place Houston with seven games left -- so the need for Aldridge to continue to play through pain is unnecessary, if not potentially harmful. He's endured pain in his right hip each of the last two seasons -- undergoing separate MRIs on Jan. 25, 2011 and March 28, 2012 -- and while each test produced negative results, the pain has lingered.

So he and his agent, Thad Foucher, set up the visit with Philippon. Aldridge was not at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night and was unavailable for questions, so it's unclear how concerned he is. But it could be heightened because Aldridge has a history of hip trouble that dates to college: In 2005, during his freshman season at the University of Texas, he had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left hip.

Buchanan said he hopes the team and Aldridge will settle on a method of treatment sometime "in the next few days." Not even a fun-to-watch Wednesday night victory before a national ESPN television audience could brighten that news.

Notes: Crawford became the second player in Blazers history to record two 30-point scoring games off the bench in the same season. Clifford Robinson did so in 1993. ... Seventeen of his points came during a five-minute, 32-second span in the first half. ... He leads the NBA in free throw shooting percentage (93.3).